Nokia Lumia 820: Solid Refresh or Disappointing, Depending on Price

In the midst of the hoo-ha regarding Nokia’s latest gaffe, let’s not forget that Nokia had that large press event for a reason: the launch of the latest Lumia smartphones, powered by Windows Phone 8. Taking all the attention, naturally, is the seriously impressive Lumia 920.

However, Nokia also did announce the Lumia 820, a refreshed version of the old Lumia 800. Sporting a 4.3-inch screen in a chassis that is 2.2mm thinner than its predecessor, it uses the same Snapdragon S4 dual-core processor found in its older brother, the Lumia 920. The screen is an AMOLED one with Nokia’s ClearBlack Display technology, now also enhanced with high brightness mode as well as Sunlight Readability Enhancements, and also the Super Sensitive touch technology, all of which are also found in the Lumia 920.

More specs on the Lumia 820 after the break.

Inside, there is 1GB of RAM, as well as 8GB of storage. For the first time in a Nokia Lumia, there is a microSD card slot, which supports cards up to 32GB. In addition, Microsoft also gives 7GB free cloud storage via SkyDrive for both Lumia phones.

Furthermore, the Lumia 820 will sport interchangeable shells, with a wide variety of colours to choose from. There is also the Wireless Charging Shell for the Lumia 820 which, when snapped on to the Lumia 820, provides support for wireless charging to the Lumia 820. There’s built-in NFC and LTE support, too.

Sadly, the positives end there for the Lumia 820. At the back, the 8MP camera is NOT a PureView-enhanced one. Further, there is only a dual LED flash module instead of the new short pulse LED flash found in the Lumia 920. The secondary camera records at only VGA as well.

But worst of all is the screen resolution on the Lumia 820. At 480 x 800, it is no sharper than the one on the Lumia 800, and lagging far behind other upcoming mid-range phones with 540 x 960 resolutions becoming the norm. The PureMotion HD+ technology on the Lumia 920 is absent, too.

Of course, this being a mid-range device, the omissions of the PureView camera and PureMotion HD+ is understandable. But the low-resolution screen is a massive disappointment, and offers no improvement from the Lumia 800 (on paper, at least).

Which brings us to the very sensitive issue of the pricing of the Lumia 820. As we all know, there are no news on pricing and release dates for both the Lumia devices. But the Lumia 820 is marketed as a mid-range smartphone, and hence, its price will be critical to its success. As always, we’ll keep you updated when the device’s availability is known.